R A PERFORMANCE COMPARISON OF DELL AND HP DESKTOP SYSTEMS Workers can be only as productive as their tools allow them to be. On a sluggish system, the most basic office tasks can become exercises in frustration, lowering user productivity and morale. Principled Technologies ran a series of industry-standard benchmarks to measure system performance. We tested two Dell desktops powered by 2nd generation Intel Core processors, a mid-range Dell Vostro™ 460 Mini Tower and a high-end Dell OptiPlex™ 990 Mini Tower, and two HP desktops powered by AMD processors, a mid-range HP Pavilion Slimline s5750z and a high-end HP Pavilion p6750z. The Intel Core processor-based Dell systems consistently delivered higher benchmark scores—as much as 148.4 percent higher—than the corresponding HP Pavilion systems, making Dell a great choice for productivity in the workplace. MAY 2011 A PRINCIPLED TECHNOLOGIES TEST REPORT Commissioned by Dell Inc. DELL AND INTEL DELIVER PERFORMANCE Responsive performance enhances worker productivity. That’s why, when choosing desktop systems for the workplace, it makes sense to purchase systems powerful enough to execute tasks quickly and efficiently. In our tests, we found that the Intel Core processor-based Dell Vostro 460 Mini Tower and Dell OptiPlex 990 delivered considerably better performance than comparable AMD processor-based HP systems— with gains up to 148.4 percent. (To learn more about the systems we tested, see Appendix A. To learn more about how we tested, see Appendix B.) SYSmark 2007 Preview v1.06 measures system performance in four workload scenarios: e-learning, office productivity, video creation, and 3D modeling. Figure 1 shows the SYSmark 2007 Preview performance for four desktop systems. The Dell Vostro 460 Mini Tower, with a score of 244, outperformed the HP Pavilion Slimline s5750z (which had a score of 144) by 69.4 percent. The Dell OptiPlex 990 Mini Tower’s score of 276 was 69.3 percent higher than the HP Pavilion p6750z score of 163. MAXON CINEBENCH consists of two main components. The first test sequence targets the computer’s main processor. CINEBENCH plays a scene that makes use of various CPU-intensive features. During the first run, the benchmark uses only one SYSmark 2007 Preview v1.06 Rating CPU or CPU core to determine a 276 300 244 reference value. On computers that have multiple CPUs or cores, 200 144 163 CINEBENCH will run a second test 100 using all available CPU power. The Score 0 Dell Vostro 460 HP Pavilion Dell OptiPlex HP Pavilion benchmark produces a single-CPU Mini Tower Slimline s5750z 990 Mini p6750z (Intel Core i5- (AMD Athlon II Tower (AMD Phenom score for all computers, and a 2400) X4 640) (Intel Core i7- II X4 840) multiple-CPU score for those 2600) computers with multiple cores. Mid-range systems High-end systems Figure 1: SYSmark 2007 Preview productivity results for our test systems. Higher numbers are better. A performance comparison of Dell and HP desktop systems A Principled Technologies test report 2 As Figure 2 shows, the Dell MAXON CINEBENCH R10 Single CPU Vostro 460 Mini Tower, with a 8,000 6,178 5,529 single-CPU score of 5,529, 6,000 3,594 4,000 3,117 outperformed the HP Pavilion 2,000 Slimline s5750z (which had a score Score 0 of 3,117) by 77.4 percent. The Dell Dell Vostro HP Pavilion Dell OptiPlex HP Pavilion 460 Mini Slimline 990 Mini p6750z OptiPlex 990 Mini Tower’s single- Tower s5750z Tower (AMD Phenom CPU score of 6,178 was 71.9 (Intel Core i5- (AMD Athlon II (Intel Core i7- II X4 840) 2400) X4 640) 2600) percent higher than the HP Mid-range systems High-end systems Pavilion p6750z score of 3,594. Figure 2: CINEBENCH R10 single CPU test results for our test systems. Higher numbers are better. As Figure 3 shows, the Dell MAXON CINEBENCH R10 Multiple CPU Vostro 460 Mini Tower, with a 25,000 23,007 18,862 20,000 multiple -CPU score of 18,862, 15,000 12,259 10,821 outperformed the HP Pavilion 10,000 5,000 Slimline s5750z (which had a score Score 0 Dell Vostro HP Pavilion Dell OptiPlex HP Pavilion of 10,821) by 74.3 percent. The 460 Mini Slimline 990 Mini p6750z Dell OptiPlex 990 Mini Tower’s Tower s5750z Tower (AMD Phenom (Intel Core i5- (AMD Athlon (Intel Core i7- II X4 840) multiple-CPU score of 23,007 was 2400) II X4 640) 2600) 87.7 percent higher than the HP Mid-range systems High-end systems Pavilion p6750z score of 12,259. Figure 3: CINEBENCH R10 multiple CPU test results for our test systems. Higher numbers are better. A performance comparison of Dell and HP desktop systems A Principled Technologies test report 3 As Figure 4 shows, the Dell SPECint_rate_base_2006 Vostro 460 Mini Tower, with a 180 155.0 150 118.0 SPECint score of 118.0, 120 outperformed the HP Pavilion 90 54.8 62.4 60 30 Slimline s5750z by 115.3 percent. Score 0 The Dell OptiPlex 990 Mini Dell Vostro 460 HP Pavilion Dell OptiPlex HP Pavilion Mini Tower Slimline s5750z 990 Mini p6750z Tower’s multiple-CPU score of (Intel Core i5- (AMD Athlon II Tower (AMD Phenom 2400) X4 640) (Intel Core i7- II X4 840) 155.0 was 148.4 percent higher 2600) than the HP Pavilion p6750z score Mid-range systems High-end systems of 62.4. Figure 4: SPECint_rate_base_2006 test results for our test systems. Higher numbers are better. As Figure 5 shows, the Dell SPECfp_rate_base_2006 Vostro 460 Mini Tower, with a 120 111.0 91.5 SPECfp score of 91.5, 90 56.3 60 50.2 outperformed the HP Pavilion 30 Slimline s5750z (which had a score Score 0 of 50.2) by 82.3 percent. The Dell Dell Vostro 460 HP Pavilion Dell OptiPlex HP Pavilion Mini Tower Slimline s5750z 990 Mini p6750z OptiPlex 990 Mini Tower’s (Intel Core i5- (AMD Athlon II Tower (AMD Phenom 2400) X4 640) (Intel Core i7- II X4 840) multiple-CPU score of 111.0 was 2600) 97.2 percent higher than the HP Mid-range systems High-end systems Pavilion p6750z score of 56.3. Figure 5: SPECfp_rate_base_2006 test results for our test systems. Higher numbers are better. TEST RESULTS Figures 6 and 7 show a detailed breakdown of benchmark results for the four test systems. These results represent the median of three test runs. Appendix C presents the results from all three BAPCo SYSmark 2007 and MAXON CINEBENCH runs, and Appendix E presents detailed results for our SPEC CPU2006 testing. A performance comparison of Dell and HP desktop systems A Principled Technologies test report 4 Percentage HP Pavilion Slimline Dell Vostro 460 improvement with s5750z Mid-range systems Mini Tower Dell Vostro 460 (AMD Athlon II X4 (Intel Core i5-2400) Mini Tower 640) (Intel Core i5-2400) BAPCo SYSmark 2007 Preview v1.06 244.0 144.0 69.4% MAXON CINEBENCH R10 Single CPU 5,529.0 3,117.0 77.4% MAXON CINEBENCH R10 Multiple CPU 18,862.0 10,821.0 74.3% SPEC CPU2006 SPECint_rate_base_2006 118.0 54.8 115.3% SPEC CPU2006 SPECfp_rate_base_2006 91.5 50.2 82.3% Figure 6: Benchmark score for the mid-range systems. Higher numbers are better. Percentage HP Pavilion Dell OptiPlex 990 improvement with p6750z High-end systems Mini Tower Dell OptiPlex 990 (AMD Phenom II X4 (Intel Core i7-2600) Mini Tower 840) (Intel Core i7-2600) BAPCo SYSmark 2007 Preview v1.06 276.0 163.0 69.3% MAXON CINEBENCH R10 Single CPU 6,178.0 3,594.0 71.9% MAXON CINEBENCH R10 Multiple CPU 23,007.0 12,259.0 87.7% SPEC CPU2006 SPECint_rate_base_2006 155.0 62.4 148.4% SPEC CPU2006 SPECfp_rate_base_2006 111.0 56.3 97.2% Figure 7: Benchmark score for the high-end systems. Higher numbers are better. SUMMARY Workers need desktop systems that allow them to do their jobs, in a timely manner and without the frustration and delays that underperforming systems cause. In our tests, we found that Dell desktops powered by the Intel Core processor family outperformed comparable HP desktops. With up to 148.4 percent increased performance over HP systems, Dell desktops are an excellent choice to meet workers’ performance and productivity needs. A performance comparison of Dell and HP desktop systems A Principled Technologies test report 5 APPENDIX A – DETAILED SYSTEM CONFIGURATION INFORMATION Figure 8 presents each test system and the details of its configuration. Dell Vostro 460 Dell OptiPlex 990 HP Pavilion HP Pavilion Mini Tower Mini Tower Slimline s5750z p6750z System (Intel Core i5- (Intel Core i7- (AMD Athlon II X4 (AMD Phenom II 2400) 2600) 640) X4 840) General Number of processor 1 1 1 1 packages Number of cores per 4 4 4 4 processor Number of hardware 4 8 4 4 threads per core System power Dell Dell Balanced Balanced management policy AMD AMD PowerNow! Enhanced Intel Enhanced Intel PowerNow!™ Processor power-saving Technology SpeedStep® SpeedStep Technology option (Cool’n’Quiet Technology Technology (Cool’n’Quiet™ Technology) Technology) System dimensions (length 17.5” x 7” x 16.5” x 7” x 15.25" x 4.5" x 16.5” x 7” x x width x height) 14.25” 14.25” 12.25" 15.75” System weight (lbs.) 22 20 13 18 CPU Vendor Intel Intel AMD AMD Name Core i5 Core i7 Athlon II X4 Phenom II X4 Model number 2400 2600 640 840 Stepping D2 D2 PH-E0 PH-E0 Socket type and number of Socket 1155 LGA Socket 1155 LGA Socket AM3 (938) Socket AM3 (938) pins Core frequency (GHz) 3.10 3.40 3.00 2.90 4,000 MHz 2,000 MHz Bus frequency 5 GT/s 5 GT/s HyperTransport™ HyperTransport Technology Technology 32 KB + 32 KB (per 32 KB + 32 KB (per 64 KB + 64 KB (per 64 KB +64 KB (per L1 cache core) core) core) core) 1 MB (256 KB per 1 MB (256 KB per 2 MB (512 KB per 2 MB (512 KB per L2 cache core) core) core) core) L3 cache 6 MB 8 MB N/A 6 MB Platform Vendor Dell Dell FOXCONN FOXCONN A performance comparison of Dell and HP desktop systems A Principled Technologies test report 6 Dell Vostro 460 Dell OptiPlex 990 HP Pavilion HP Pavilion Mini Tower Mini Tower Slimline s5750z p6750z System (Intel Core i5- (Intel Core i7- (AMD Athlon II X4 (AMD Phenom II 2400) 2600) 640) X4 840) Motherboard model OY2MRG 06D7TR 2B1 2AB1 number Motherboard chipset H67 ID1C4E AMD 785G AMD 785G American American Dell A03 Dell Inc.